Pokemon - Knights of Truth
by FearofFears
Summary: Carbon Dynasty and friends are adventuring through the Li Region, but not is all as it seems. As their journey progresses, Carbon learns about what it means to be a gym leader's son, and what really goes on behind the Pokemon League's closed doors. All the while a growing organization known as the Knights of Truth is amassing, with only one goal. To overthrow the League! Reuploaded
1. Chapter 1

**(Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Duh. Why'd you even think that, you big dummy. I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. I'm sure you're very intelligent and I never meant to insult you.)**

Chapter 1

Leaving for a While

"Mom? Hey…Mom?" I said, standing in the doorway, letting just enough light into my parents' room to see what was inside. She was sitting on the bed, not moving. She had been like that for a while, just sitting. I'd have to bring her food, and even then, she refused to eat while I was around, and sometimes she refused to eat all together. I felt sorry for her, I kinda knew what she was going through, but at the same time I was angry. She should know that Dad's death hurt me too, and I really needed her…but I couldn't blame her. I had to take care of her, but I couldn't do that forever.

When I first heard the knock at the door, I didn't want to answer. My heart stopped, and my hands grew clammy. I steadied my breath, and opened the door, slowly. Two people, a boy and a girl, stood on the steps in green t-shirts with the Pokemon League symbol on the shoulder. Under it I saw small blue text reading, "Leader's Resort - Medical Staff". I tried to tell them to come in, but my throat shut, and I couldn't speak a word. So I gestured them in, trying to choke down the dozens of confusing emotions clouding my brain.

"Is she upstairs?" The boy asked. I still couldn't say anything, so I just nodded. He gave me a quick look of sympathy, and then ran up the stairs. I looked over at the girl, who had sat down on my couch, and was looking at me expectantly.

"Now, Carbon. I know that these past few weeks have been very hard for you and your mom, but - are you still with me sweetie?" She looked at me with concern. I nodded and realized I was crying. I wiped my eyes and looked at her. She was only a few years older than me, not old enough to be calling me sweetie. I appreciated it, though. Her dark brown eyes were a lot like my mom's but I hadn't seen that warmth they had ever since Dad got sick. She didn't look much like my mom at all; her skin was darker, she had black hair instead of brown, and she was at least a decade younger, but for some reason she reminded me a lot of Mom. The mom I had before all of this.

"Ok then, I know this is the last thing you want to be hearing right now, but your family cannot continue living in the Leader's Resort." She said quietly, as if by using a softer voice, she would somehow make this news better. It wasn't a surprise for me; I had known they had to kick us out sooner or later. This place was for retired gym leaders, and now the retired gym leader in our family passed away. Even though I had been bracing myself for such news, it still hit me like a hurricane.

"But what about Mom?" I asked before I had time to think. My eyes started to swell up, and this time I didn't try to stop myself.

"Since our last appointment, we have come to the conclusion that your mother is no longer a fit guardian for the time being. We're going to keep her in a hospital until the shock wears off."

"You mean _if_ the shock wears off."

"Well…yes." She said, obviously not expecting my hostility. Normally, I'd apologize, but I decided not to care for once.

"…where will I go?" I asked, my eyes finally returning to normal. I had to stay strong. Or, at least, not crumble.

"Your mother has a sister, as you probably know. We are going to send you to live with her as long as your mother is in this state."

**~3 months later~**

"What about you, Carbon? What's your pokemon?" Mrs. Terwilliger said, startling me. I wasn't paying attention, and I hadn't noticed her come up behind me. She saw my drawing in my notebook and snatched it from my hands. "Gengar, huh? This can't be your pokemon, can it? Do you just have a Gastly?" Before I could say anything she turned to the class and asked, "Now, who can tell me what type, or types, Gastly is?"

This was really starting to annoy me, and it was gonna make telling the class about my situation even more awkward. A girl on the other side of the room, Chloe, raised her hand and said, "Gastly is a Ghost type pokemon, Mrs. Terwilliger. It evolves first into Haunter, then into Gengar." She fluffed her blonde-and-somehow-pink hair and waited for Terwilliger's usual praise.

"I'm sorry, Chloe, that's incorrect. Anyone else? Ink, how about you?"

My cousin Ink, sitting next to me, on the other side of the teacher looked up slowly. He was a total goofball everywhere except in the classroom. His mom was crazy about his grades, so he always took education very seriously. He gets way better grades than me, but she felt sorry for me, so she didn't bother me much about it.

"Ghost and Poison." Ink said quietly, talking just above a whisper.

"What was that now? Speak up, please." Terwilliger said. Ink and Chloe were her favorite students, but as Chloe adored her attention, Ink hated it.

"The Gastly family is a dual type. Both Ghost and Poison," Ink said louder, then he saw Chloe giving him the Evil Eye from the other side of the room, then he added, "so you weren't completely wrong, Chloe." She calmed down a bit.

"So, Carbon, how did you obtain a Gastly? I understand they are very rare in this part of the country." Mrs. Terwilliger said, turning back to me.

"Well, you see, I don't really have a pokemon." I heard gasps, and even some snickers from people around the class, so I continued, "my dad is, or, um, _was_ Ace Dynasty, the former flying-type gym leader. He got me a Fletchling when I was 10, but my mom was against me training pokemon. My dad had been injured pretty badly after some guys who lost to him mugged him with their pokemon outside of his gym. That's why he had to retire, and then on top of that he got really sick and…yeah." The snickers had stopped, and I felt Mrs. Terwilliger's hand on my shoulder.

I looked up at her, and she gave me a look. The same look of I'm-sorry-but-I-can't-help-very-much that the boy from the League gave me when he picked up my mom. "Now, class," Mrs. Terwilliger said once she got up to the front of the classroom, "not having a pokemon is perfectly normal, not everyone receives a pokemon when they get their license. Some people can't afford them, some people don't want their kids training at that age, and some people just don't want one. Now, Carbon, I must ask, why did you draw this Gengar? I mean, don't get me wrong, it's a brilliant drawing, but why particularly Gengar? They aren't indigenous to the area."

I heard some grumblings about me being able to get one only because I come from a League family. As if. I waited a second, then said, "I was watching the game last night, the one-on-one single elimination qualifiers for the sectional tournaments, and Kazzy was using a Gengar. Like, a really, really good Gengar." I was a complete competitive pokemon fanatic, and I had been a fan of Kazzy since I saw him beat my dad's gym when I was six. Now, seven years later, he had beaten the Pokemon League, was a champion for three years, and then stepped down to start a competitive career.

"That's very nice Carbon, but next time, try to pay attention to my lessons instead of daydreaming about those competitions." Terwilliger said, then she continued the lesson, and the day went along like usual. At least, until school ended.

"Carbon, Ink, Hey!" I heard Chloe's annoyingly melodic voice from behind us. She lived in the same building as us, but she usually left school much later, so we never really walked together. Once she caught up to us, she said, "Carbon, you know you can get a pokemon from the professor, right? I mean, you have to show him that you can handle it, but I've heard you talk about raising pokemon a ton at recess, so I think you'd be ready. Plus, you're a gym leader's son, so he'll probably give it to you on the spot!" I was surprised by her helpfulness. I had never really talked to her, but the way she always looked at Ink made me assume she was just a teacher's pet. When I first moved here, I asked Ink about her and he just said I should ignore her, so that's what I did I guess.

"Wait just one second," Ink said, stopping in his tracks. He then looked at Chloe strangely and asked, "You listen to our conversations during recess?" She was startled by this question, and then she started blushing.

"Umm, well…I didn't mean…shut up." She said to Ink, which he readily responded to with his trademark smirk. "Anyways," She continued, "you should really get a pokemon, Carbon, I think you'd really enjoy it, and you deserve it, too."

"How would you know if I enjoy or deserve it or not? You barely know me," I said, then I realized how mean that sounded, so I went on, "but you seem really cool, what pokemon do you have?"

She pulled out a pokeball from her pink jacket pocket and pressed the button to release the creature inside. The ball opened, a white light streaming from it, shooting onto the ground and revealing a small bear with a leaf in its mouth. "Pancham! Pancham!" It said.

"I'm guessing that's a Pancham." I said. Chloe laughed at my sarcasm, which, quite honestly, surprised me. I never really thought she had a sense of humor, like, at all. "I think I've seen one of those before on TV, but never in real life. What type is it?" I asked, kneeling down to pet its furry head.

"It's fighting type, like my Mankey." Ink said putting his key into the lock of our door. I hadn't realized it, but we had made it back to our apartment complex.

"Ya, except, no matter how many times I try I can't beat his Mankey for the life of me." Chloe said laughing, walking into our apartment, even though we hadn't formally invited her.

"You guys have battled?" I asked, trying to see if I had heard her correctly.

"Once a week, every week, ever since we've gotten our pokemon. I guess you could say she's my rival." Ink said casually, taking Chloe's jacket off and hanging it up on our coat rack.

"Oh, I didn't know you guys were so close." I said awkwardly. A short silence followed, then Chloe went to the bathroom, (I guess she already knew where it was) so Ink and I got some much-needed time alone.

"Hey, man, why haven't you ever told me about this?" I asked Ink in a hushed voice. He looked away and didn't answer for a while. I guess he was searching for the right thing to say.

"I guess it never really felt necessary to tell you. I don't know, it's kind of been a secret for a while, no one really knows about it. I think my mom still thinks me and her are going out." He said with a laugh. His calm attitude really put it all in perspective, and I realized that it wasn't really that big of a deal. Who cared if they battle? It didn't really affect my relationship with Ink, and it only brought me closer to Chloe, so it only really had positive consequences.

Chloe walked back into the room, tucking her phone into her back pocket. "I told my mom I'd be having dinner here, so you better not make me a liar, hint hint." She said, giving Ink a surprisingly flirtatious wink. Then we all sat down, and they tried to convince me to get a pokemon…and it worked.

**~The next day, after school~**

We were heading towards Professor Cedar's Lab, ready to get my first pokemon, and I was more nervous than I had ever been in my life. They kept telling me to calm down, but I just couldn't. Worried thoughts crowded my head like a flock of Pidove in the big cities of the Unova region. What if he didn't give me a pokemon? What if he did give me a pokemon and it didn't like me? I was so filled with dread that I didn't notice us finally arrive the intimidating white building of the professor.

As we walked in, I noticed Jagged, Ink's Mankey, and Rebel, Chloe's Pancham were out of their pokeballs, but still staying near their trainers. I wondered if that was to be expected, and if not, were we going to get thrown out because of their mistake?

"Randal! Hey, Randall!" Chloe yelled to a man across the lab, disturbing some of the scientists surrounding a Persian hooked up to several monitors. When the man didn't respond, Chloe sighed and said in a much more appropriate voice, "Professor Cedar, may we speak with you about getting this fine young man a pokemon?" She seemed to be mocking him, and now more than ever I was afraid that we were going to get thrown out. Then, the Professor turned around, revealing a surprisingly young face. What was more startling than his age was his resemblance to Chloe.

"Come on, sis. You can't just barge in here and ask for something like that. I thought we've been over this." The young man said, then he turned to me, and I saw a look of recognition in his eyes, then sorrow. "You're Ace's boy, aren't you, I'm so sorry for your loss. For the record, he was by far the most difficult gym leader to defeat, even though he was only the seventh." I was surprised by this. All of these things I'm learning in just two days! First, I learn that Ink and Chloe are not only friends, but rivals. Then I learn that apparently Chloe is the professor's sister. Now, I learn that he had defeated my father in battle! I looked him over a bit. He didn't seem old enough to have defeated seven, maybe even eight gyms, and he _really_ didn't seem like the kind of guy who'd be able to beat my dad in a gym battle. Cedar must've saw the subtle confusion on my face, because he then said, "All official pokemon professors must acquire the eight gym badges from their region, so…that's what I did. I'll tell ya, it wasn't easy though. But I saw what I wanted to do, and I went for it. Now, before this turns into an inspirational lecture, let's see about that pokemon, I think I know just the one for you." He turned to the computer behind him and started typing. Soon, a pokeball was dispensed from a tube next to us. I looked at him, and he nodded.

I reached my hand very slowly towards the ball, wrapping my fingers around it. It was surprisingly cold, but I grabbed it and held it up. The metal was smooth; I thought it might just slip out of my hand. I pressed the ball, and shielded my eyes as that bright white light blasted out of it. But, instead of the usual, when it hits the ground, it stayed mid-air and formed the shape of a bird. It was a black bird with intimidating red eyes and a long, yellow beak. The feathers on its head made it look like it was wearing a fedora, and as I was about to say what pokemon it was, it flapped over onto my head, and cawed out, "Murkrow! Murkrow, Murkrow, Murkrow!"

"Your dad always wanted a Honchkrow," Professor Cedar said, "I used one in my team when I faced him, and he said he always wanted one, but was never able to catch it. Mine is actually the mother of yours. Do you want to name it?"

"…what did you name yours?" I asked tentatively.

"Boss…because, Honchkrow is like, the Big Boss pokemon, and like…never mind." The professor said, obviously embarrassed by his choice of name.

"Hmm…I'll name mine Omen." I said. That was met with looks of surprise, then they all took a moment to think, and Ink nodded.

"I like it." He said, his smirk jutting out of the side of his face. For once I could tell that he wasn't being sarcastic.

"Ya, it really suits Murkrow, since it's all dark and spooky and stuff." Chloe added, her hands adding flare and panache to the word "spooky". Maybe she wasn't so bad after all. Ink seemed to like her, and she wasn't nearly as much of a buzzkill as she had seemed.

"Ok then, Omen it is!" the professor said with a smile, then he continued, "Now, if that's all you wanted-"

"Actually, there's one more thing." Chloe interrupted, then she looked at Ink and he whipped out a formal-looking document and handed it to the professor.

"We need you to sign this; it gives us legal permission to go try to collect all of the gym badges. We're all of legal age, and we have parental, I mean, guardian consent, and our teacher signed it too, saying that we are all ready to go." Ink said.

"Wait, what?" I asked. This was all a complete surprise, and I wasn't sure if I was ready to go on this big of an adventure. "Mrs. Terwilliger even said I was ready? She doesn't even like me that much!"

"She said you don't get the best academic grades, but you have shown multiple times that you'd be a good trainer." Chloe said, with a giant grin stretching across her face.

We all looked to the professor, waiting intently, then, with he looked at each one of us, nodded then signed.

**~The next day, before leaving~**

I turned on my PC and called my mom on video chat. People like her are on 24-hour watch, so I knew someone would be there to answer my call. The screen flickered on, and the same girl who I talked to three months prior was there, smiling and waving. Her name was Ashley, I had learned, and she was the daughter of a former rock type gym leader. Her chocolate brown skin and black hair, which was now cut short, no longer resembling my mother's, covered the screen, not giving me much of a view of my mom. She smiled and waved, then backed off, letting me see the rest of the room. I immediately wish she hadn't.

My mom was sitting on the bed, her eyes staring straight forward at the camera, but glazed over. She wasn't really seeing me, she was just looking. Ashley turned to her and said, "Diane, it's your son, Carbon. Can you say hello? Can you say hello to Carbon?" My mom's lips moved, but no sound came out, or at least I didn't hear any. "Good, good! You responded, that's great!" Ashley turned to me and her overly positive attitude disappeared. "She's getting better, but not nearly at the rate we want. You may have to stay there a bit longer, kiddo"

"Ok," I said back solemnly, "Can I talk to her?" Ashley nodded silently, and moved away from the PC. "Mom, I'm leaving for a while. I'm going on a journey. I know you don't want me to train, but I think Dad would've loved it. I'm raising one of his favorite pokemon and I…I…" I choked up and couldn't finish, and my eyes filled with tears. I wiped them away and looked back up at the monitor, just to be met by that same lifeless stare. "I love you." I finished, and then turned the PC off.

**(Like, comment, subscribe and all that jazz. But seriously, comment or something, even if it's just to correct a grammatical error I made. I just want to know that people are willing to stare at a screen for several minutes for me. Bye, thanks for reading you big dummies.)**

_**Tune in next time when we meet three new Pokemon that will join our three young heroes as they begin their adventure into the great unknown! Will these new friends be a good fit for our trio or will all the new faces be too much for Carbon to handle? Find out next chapter, in "Mirror, Mirror"! Thank you for reading.**_


	2. Chapter 2

**(I still don't own pokemon, or anything affiliated with it. Nerds.)**

Chapter 2

Mirror, Mirror

"Ok, the first thing we gotta do, is catch another pokemon!" Chloe said excitedly as we hiked through the road leading to the first gym in Chakleburg City. My hiking pack sat uncomfortably on my back. I was itching, maybe from the copious amounts of sunblock Chloe forced us to put on before embarking, maybe from the sheer excitement of it all. I didn't care about catching another Pokemon, all I wanted to do was keep moving.

"Ugggh, why? We already have one each." I sighed exasperatedly. I understood why _they_ needed new pokemon, because the first gym was Psychic type, and they both had Fighting type Pokemon with disadvantages, but Murkrow was Dark, so it wouldn't have a problem facing the gym.

"Carbon, you need at least two pokemon to face a gym. It's two towns over, so you'll be able to take your pick." Ink said from behind us. Neither I nor Chloe had noticed, but he had started lagging behind us quite a bit. We were on a hill, so I thought maybe he was having trouble hiking.

I was about to ask him, when Chloe smirked and shouted down, "I assume you're enjoying the view, pretty boy." She wiggled her poor excuse for hips jokingly, winking at Ink.

Ink laughed and said teasingly, "Yeah, Carbon looks great from down here, it's a good angle."

I chuckled and continued trudging up the hill. I was a bit heavier than Ink or Chloe, but I wasn't really having as much trouble as I thought I'd be. We'd been hiking for a while, but I guess they were just keeping me entertained. I was happy for once. Really happy. I was glad I had some good friends to go on this journey with. I guess I was too busy thinking about that to notice something moving on the road.

I (quite embarrassingly) had tripped over what seemed to be absolutely nothing and landed on the ground, hard. All of a sudden, a big green lizard appeared in front of me, I had apparently startled it awake. It scampered off into the forest, and following my instinct, I ran after it.

"Carbon, wait! We don't even know what it is! What if it's too strong for us?" I heard Chloe yell from behind me.

"I know what it is, it's a Kecleon!" I shouted back.

"What in all hell is a Kecleon?" Ink said, all of a sudden right next to me.

"It's the color swap pokemon. Once it's hit with a damaging move, it changes its type according to what type of move hit it." I said, reciting what I had read in "Unusual Pokemon for Unusual Strategies", a book I had checked out from the library a month ago.

"Ok, I see, what type is it now? Like, before its hit with anything…other than your foot." Ink asked jokingly.

"Normal." Chloe answered, as she appeared on the other side of me. Even in her large pink coat she was agile from years of...well...probably like dance or gymnastics or something.

"Well, ok then, I'll just send out Jagged and we can Karate Chop the little bastard." Ink said, reaching for the pokeball strapped to his belt.

"Wait a second, I have a plan." I said, smirking.

**~Two minutes later, after chasing the Kecleon across the forest and into a clearing~**

"We see your red zigzag thing, buddy. No use hiding." Ink said with a laugh pointing at the hovering bright red stripe in front of us. The wild Kecleon appeared, sticking its tongue out and standing its ground. It was a lot bigger than I remembered, definitely larger than Jagged or Rebel, and I had only just gotten Omen, but it was still three against one.

"Go, Jagged! Use Karate Chop!" shouted Ink as he released the pig monkey from its pokeball. The thing dashed out with almost unmatchable speed. It halted suddenly in front of the lizard, and delivered a destructive blow to its stomach. The Kecleon flew back, and its green skin turned to a rusty orange. I remembered reading that when Kecleon's type changes, its personality somewhat reflects the change…that didn't even scratch the surface. The newly-fighting-type Kecleon dashed forward and landed a swift punch right on Jagged's pig nose. Jagged was knocked back, and skidded into Ink.

"What the hell was that? It's not supposed to learn fighting type moves, even when it's a fighting type!" Chloe yelled over to me, Rebel ready for battle at her side.

"Guys, look at Jagged…" Ink said. We looked over at the Mankey, who was back on its feet, fighting Kecleon, but something was wrong. Jagged was famous among all the kids at school for being not only strong, but incredibly agile, but now it was stumbling along, leaving itself wide open for attacks from the Kecleon. Then it hit me.

"Ink, get Jagged out of there, he used Dizzy Punch!" I shouted. "We have to keep going with the plan!" I sent out Omen, and ordered him to use Peck. For a second, Omen did nothing. He just sat there. Then, he turned, glaring at me with one of his shining red eyes. I was afraid he would defy me, and then he simply nodded, spread his wings and dashed through the air at Kecleon. Omen's long yellow beak collided with the lizard, making it jump back. Its skin now turned a light blue, the color of the sky.

"Now! Rebel! Use Rock Tomb!" Chloe shouted, sending the battle-ready Pancham towards the wounded Kecleon. Rebel dug his hand into the ground as he ran, and then raised it out, flinging rocks towards the Kecleon. It tried to dash out of the way, but one of the rocks hit its tail. The lizard now turned brown, and began acting aggressive again.

"Jeez, how bulky _is_ this thing?" Ink asked.

"Not bulky enough. Rebel! Karate Chop!" Chloe yelled. The small panda raised its hand, but right before it hit the lizard, Kecleon stuck its tongue out and licked Rebel's face. Rebel's attack hit, but with much less force than intended. The Kecleon became rusty orange once more, and I guess its new typing gave it a bit more strength, because it was able to lift the rock off of its tail and throw a devastating punch to the pandas head. The bear collapsed on the floor, confused and paralyzed, unmoving.

"Ok, Omen, here's our chance!" I shouted, "Omen! Peck, go!" The bird flew at the already enraged Kecleon, who was hit squarely in the jaw by Omen's long, sharp beak. This blow was much stronger than the last, and the lizard flew back, turning to a light blue once more.

"Quick, Carbon, catch it!" Chloe said, rushing away from the dangerous pokemon, Rebel lying limp in her arms. I dug into my pocket and pulled out a pokeball. I breathed in. Then out. It had just hit me that this was my first capture, or at least first attempted capture. I was so nervous, but if I hesitated, Kecleon would get away, or even worse, do more damage to our team. I threw the ball at the wounded monster, and once it hit, the light of Kecleon's genetic data rushed into the red-and-white orb. The ball shook once…twice…three times, then nothing. There was complete silence for a few seconds. Then the button in the center of the pokeball flashed red, indicating a successful capture.

We all breathed a collective sigh of relief. In my head, when one of us got our first capture, we all cheered and celebrated, but we were all too tired now. In my head, we weren't fighting something so strong. In my head, we weren't fighting a freaking Kecleon for Arceus's sake.

**~That night~**

We had set up camp on the edge of the clearing where I caught my Kecleon, which I had named "Mirror". The day had been completely exhausting, but still fun and productive, well, mostly. Chloe had caught a Ledyba which she named Lady (creative, I know) but Ink hadn't caught anything. It's not like he hadn't find the right pokemon to be part of his team, he just couldn't seem to catch ANYTHING. He had used up the 5 pokeballs he had, plus the four I had, and now, among the three of us, we only had one of Chloe's left. I felt really sorry for him. I started to wonder if he'd ever catch something. Then, that night…

"AAAAH! GUYS! GET THIS THING AWAY FROM ME!" Chloe yelled from her tent. Ink and I sprang up, clumsily stumbling out of our tent and rushing over to hers. As we fell into her tent, we saw her in her pajamas with a dark figure covering her face. It turned its head and the moonlight slipping in through the entrance reflected off of its gleaming, gem eyes. It was a Sableye.

We saw it clinging to the absurdly large and flashy jewel necklace Chloe was wearing, and Ink dashed into it. We had forgotten our pokemon in our tent, so I guess we had to improvise. The Sableye dashed around, dodging Ink and letting him fall awkwardly onto Chloe. They both got up, startled and waited.

No one was making a move, even though we were surrounding it. The dark creature just waited, standing eerily still. Then, a pokeball flew out of seemingly nowhere, and hit the Sableye on the head. Its genetic data was absorbed into the ball, and just as before, the ball shook once…twice…three times…

We were expecting the thing to burst out, like all the other pokemon Ink tried to catch, but instead, the red button glowed briefly, and he caught it…just like that. There was silence for a few seconds, then Ink said, "…what? WHAT? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! ALL I DID WAS GRAB CHLOE'S DAMN POKEBALL AND THROW IT AT THAT THING? ARE YOU SERIOUS?"

There was silence again, and then I said, "Well, I guess it was time for a gym battle."

**(Yeah, I know this one is like half as long as the first, but I'm studying for a test to get into a rich kid school, so I'm saving the super spooky stuff for later. You guys won't have to wait as long for the next chapter…oh wait, no one reads this…I'm so alone…you big dummies.)**

**Repost - (A year later, and I'm in that rich kid school and finished with finals. It really has been a crazy time since I first posted this story. Anyways, I still ask y'all to comment and review about what you like, and more importantly, what can be improved. As always, try to be polite, I'll see you dummies later.)**

_**Tune in next time when our three protagonists are confronted by some bullies who challenge them to a battle, but not is all as it seems. Will our heroes be able to defeat Fox and her goons, or will they be in for a rude awakening? Find out next chapter, in "Foxy Lady". Thanks for reading.**_


	3. Chapter 3

**(I do not own the pokemon franchise or anything affiliated with it. Oh yeah, and remember how I was talking about how the gym battle would be soon? Look forward to that…in chapters 5 and 6. You big dummies.)**

Chapter 3

Foxy Lady

"Ink, are you sure there's nothing wrong?" Chloe asked again, with an increasingly worried look on her face.

"Yeah I'm fine, don't worry about it. Why do you guys keep asking me that anyways?" Ink responded roughly, with probably more attitude than he intended.

"Because we're worried about you," Chloe answered immediately, not letting me talk, "You're really well-built and-I mean, um. I mean you're really athletic and whatever and you keep lagging behind and needing to take breaks. It's not like you, is something wrong?"

"Maybe I'm just lazy, did you ever think about that? I swear, you guys, I'm fine, stop bothering me about it." Ink said, without his usual charm. He really didn't like people worrying about him. He always insisted he was fine, but I caught him limping a few times when I turned around during our walk through the forest.

"Prove to me, I mean, us, that you're ok, and we'll stop bothering you." Chloe said, emphasizing her point by fluffing her fluffy pinkish-blonde hair.

"Now how do you propose I do that, princess?" Ink said back sharply. This time, Chloe completely stopped in her tracks. We stood there on the path weaving through the forest for several long, empty seconds. Then, she just kept walking, a bit faster this time.

Chloe's head was pointed at the ground, masking something. Some sort of pain, a memory maybe. "I told you I don't like it when you call me that. You know that. You know I _hate_ it when-"

"What was that, princess? I couldn't hear you over the sound of your giant ego stomping through these woods." Ink scoffed. After that, Chloe was silent…for once. She didn't talk for a few minutes. For that matter, none of us did. She was trying to stay strong, Ink was trying to cool down, and I, well, I was just making sure not to get in the way. I knew I had no place in this argument, and I was trying my best to stay out of it. Before I moved out here, I hadn't seen Ink since I was around 5, and now we're all 13 and those two spent a lot more time with each other than with me. They had to get over this; it's just a petty argument. They just _had_ to get over it...right?

After much too long, Ink finally said softly, his hand reaching up and tapping Chloe's back, "Chlo? Hey, Chlo?" Chloe said nothing. "Look, I'm really, really sorry. I, uh…well I didn't mean to go that far. I know that stuff is sensitive for you, I shouldn't have brought it up, and…" Ink grabbed Chloe's shoulder and turned her around, forcing her to look at him while he apologized. "I just don't want you worrying about me, ok? You know how I am, I get defensive. Just trust me, I'm fine…"

Their conversation went on for a little longer after that, but I decided to give them some much-needed space, so I ventured a little farther on the trail. I hadn't gone as much as 10 yards when I saw some kids battling in a field beyond some trees. I looked in, and my heart immediately started pumping faster. I loved battles. They were just…unbelievable. They were my passion, an ancient art form that transcended even the existence of humans. Pokemon battles.

"Kirlia! Let's go! Use Psyshock!" A girl around my age said, pointing her Emotion pokemon towards an enemy Machop. The biped-lizard-thing was surrounded by spheres of glowing magenta light, which converged onto it forcefully. It started shaking uncontrollably, holding its head tightly and letting out muffled moans. I cringed at the sight. It collapsed on the ground, weak, but still conscious. The battle wasn't over yet. The absurdly muscular biped creature tried to lift itself back onto its feet, but fell back to the ground, it's eyes wincing in pain as it braced itself for another super effective attack.

"Machop! Get up! Do SOMETHING! Use Rock Smash again!" The boy on the other side of the makeshift battlefield yelled angrily. He a step forward into the grassy clearing to urge is pokemon onward, but was halted by Kirlia's threatening gaze.

The girl laughed and said, "Alright Kirlia, put this thing out of its misery with Magical Leaf!" The Psychic-Fairy nodded and raised her hands. The space around the creature started to warp and glow with a dark aura. Suddenly these ripples summoned ominous looking leaves out of thin air, and with a flick of Kirlia's hand, she sent them flying at the wounded Machop. The strange leaves hit the half-alive creature with such force that it flew through the air, colliding with its trainer, sending them both tumbling onto the ground.

"What're you looking at C?" I heard from over my shoulder. I turned around and saw Ink walking towards me with his arm around Chloe's shoulder. It didn't really look romantic, but he still awkwardly tucked his arm behind his back once he realized that it might look…not as he intended. He may try his best to seem cool, but I was beginning to notice that he was really self-conscious.

"Yeah, what are you looking at, punk?" A short, pudgy kid said as he grabbed me and threw me into the field where the girl was with alarming strength.

"Jet, calm down, I don't mind a spectator." I heard the girl say. Her voice was much different when she spoke outside of battle. Sort of soothing, but in a way that felt like somewhat deceitful. "Hey kid, you impressed?" I nodded, looking up at the girl now that her back was no longer facing me. "How about you and I battle, since we're already here. My Kirlia is just about ready for another round, since that other kid didn't even leave a scratch on it."

I began to get up, but before I could respond, Ink ran into the clearing, Jagged and Greed by his side. "Hey, how about you leave him alone and go for someone your own level." He said. I have to say I was somewhat offended. He was perfectly aware that I had a major type advantage and I was perfectly well-versed in theoretical combat. Real battles couldn't be much different.

"Fine kid, calm down," The mysterious girl said, signaling for her companions to crowd around. There was the pudgy kid, Jet, and another guy who was tall and lanky with a scar under his left eye. "So," The girl continued, smirking at Ink, "You, your girlfriend, and the creeper guy against me, Jet, and Kyle."

"Come on, Fox," The tall kid, Kyle, said, "We shouldn't waste our time with these scrubs, we have better things to do. Like just about _anything else_." He snickered. That really ticked Ink off.

"Ok, you're on. 2v2's for all of us, Chloe against Jet, Carbon against Kyle, and me against you, Foxy." He said, tightening his hands into balled fists. He flexed and his muscles became very evident underneath his white shirt. Fox raised her eyes, obviously making note of her opponent, but maybe not quite in the way Ink had intended.

"Ok, kid. And it's Fox. Just Fox." The girl said, with a wink, her bright red hair blowing in the cold early-afternoon wind.

"Grr…are you sure I can't take on the girl, she's really pissing me off, winking all the time and wearing short skirts and just being such a who-" Chloe was cut off by Ink raising his hand, signaling her to stop. I wasn't sure when I saw it, but i thought I could see INk's hand trembling. Was he nervous? No, of course not. It had to be something else.

"No, no, girl. He's mine." Fox said, laughing. Chloe was getting more agitated, but Ink motioned for her to step away. We all lined up, waiting for someone to step up. It was the stout kid, Jet, who made the first move. He and Chloe stepped up, pokeballs in hand, preparing mentally for battle. They both tried to act like they didn't care, but it was obvious they wanted to show off.

They threw their pokeballs in sync, not announcing which pokemon they were sending out, which was weird, but honestly made more sense than screaming like an idiot. "Koffing, use Poison Gas! Make this quick, I don't want to waste m'lady's time." Jet said, glancing over at Fox with an undeniably creepy grin. She gave a nervous smile, obviously embarrassed. He ordered his balloon-like pokemon to attack, pointing a pudgy finger at Chloe's pokemon. Luckily, Chloe had sent in Ledyba, and, without being ordered to, the ladybug flew out of the way of the toxic green gas being blasted towards it.

"Lady! Comet Punch, let's show this jackass what we're made of!" Chloe shouted with bloodlust in her eyes, surprising all of us, but mostly Jet. In fact, it didn't just surprise him, it enraged him. Lady flew at Koffing with frightening speed, landing four strong punches square between its eyes. The Poison pokemon was knocked back, but was still very, very ready to fight.

"Koffing, let's teach this princess a thing or two, use Sludge!" Jet shouted, and, as he commanded, Koffing opened its mouth and sprayed thick purple ooze onto Lady, damaging it greatly, but it wasn't done with yet.

"Ok, Lady, it's stronger than us, but we have speed on our side! Use Mach Punch!" Chloe said, grinning wildly. At that time, I had never seen that look in her eye. It was complete insanity that made me glad she was on our side. She was so sure she would be able to win, but I thought I saw a faint smile cross Jet's face for just a split second. The ladybug flew at Koffing with speed that would put even Jagged to shame and smacked it with its tiny insect-fist. The Koffing went hurdling back, spinning because of the blow…but something was wrong. It seemed to be spinning for too long, and it looked like it was getting faster.

"I'm glad you caught on, Koffing. I didn't even have to tell you the game plan; you knew immediately when you saw the bug's speed. I'm glad you remembered our battle against that Vigoroth." Jet laughed.

"What are you talking about?" Chloe asked angrily.

"Haha, you still haven't figured it out? According to my assessment of your pokemon, it has a 31/31 IV in speed, so I just waited for you to get Ledyba to start going at its maximum speed, so I could do, well, this: Koffing, Gyro Ball!" Jet said, grinning like a mad man. I was wrong about these guys. They seemed just like bullies, but they were more than that. They were strategists. Playmakers. Koffing, still spinning, shot at Lady like a purple cannonball of death, colliding into it and knocking the pokemon roughly onto the ground, completely annihilating it. Chloe was now officially losing; and she did not like it.

"Rebel, Go! Let's show this punk what you can do!" Chloe said, releasing her battle-ready-bear.

"Hmm, let me see…" Jet said, looking at Rebel peculiarly, "I'd say… 25 in HP, 19 in Attack, 14 in Defense, 9 in both specials, and, wow, another 31/31 Speed, what are the odds! What do you guys think?" He looked over at the others.

"Sounds about right." Fox nodded.

"15 in Defense." Kyle said plainly.

"Ok, ok, ok! What in all the fiery, infernal pits of hell are you guys talking about?" Chloe said, finally snapping.

"IV's. Inherited values." Ink said, not letting them answer, "They're the stats a pokemon naturally has before growing and training."

"Very good, pretty boy," Fox said, winking again, "See, me and my friends have a knack for noticing and assessing a Pokémon's IV's. That's why we're so good at what we do."

"Screw IV's! Rebel, use Rock Tomb!" Chloe shouted, her Pancham digging his paw into the ground and tossing several large rocks at Koffing. Koffing was already scratched up, and this seemed to knock it out, which started to calm Chloe down.

"Well done. Now, go Yamask!" Jet yelled, releasing an eerie Ghost-type Pokemon.

"…you have GOT to be kidding me." Chloe mumbled under her breath.

"Yamask, use Ominous Wind." Jet yelled. His mask-bearing ghost blasted Rebel with what can only be described as, well, an ominous wind. Rebel was damaged, but it was obvious that Jet picked a ghost-type only to resist Rebel's strongest moves.

"Rebel, just keep using Rock Tomb!" Chloe said, obviously running out of ideas. The battle raged on for much too long, and all the while it was apparent that Rebel was losing. Finally Rebel collapsed, and Chloe recalled him without a word. I looked over at Ink and he nodded, so I stepped up next.

Kyle didn't even take a step into the clearing where the battle took place; he just sat down, cross-legged and tossed his pokeball towards me. "Scyther, go! Make this interesting, the last battle nearly bored me to death."

"Alright, Omen, let's go!" I shouted as I released my Murkrow from its pokeball. "Omen! Wing Attack!" The bird flew towards the demonic-winged-mantis and smacked it with its wing.

"Scyther, Slash." Kyle said smoothly, his voice somehow becoming more and more monotone at an exponential rate. His bug attacked Omen with its large, blade-like claws, damaging it quite a bit, but Omen had gotten much stronger since the scuffle with Mirror. He was ready for a fight.

"Wing Attack again!" I ordered. Omen smacked the Scyther with its wing again, but this time with much more force. He was motivated. We had to win our first real battle. Scyther was forced back onto the ground, unconscious. Omen was strong. Much stronger than any of us thought.

"Ooooh, Super Luck, that makes this interesting." Kyle said, still keeping his cool. "Slurpuff, go!" Kyle then sent out what appeared to be a large, fat, floppy dessert.

"Wow…that has got to be the stupidest looking pokemon I've ever seen." I said with a laugh. I immediately regretted this. Kyle was now standing, even though I never actually saw him getting up. He looked angry, not just angry, he was bloodthirsty. Vengeful. Raging.

"NO ONE SAYS THAT ABOUT SLURPUFF! SLURPUFF'S POWER IS BEYOND YOUR COMPREHENSION! NOW, SHOW THEM YOUR ULTIMATE POWER AND USE DAZZLING GLEAM!" Kyle shouted, all traces of his too-cool-to-care attitude nowhere to be found. The fat Fairy-type blasted Omen with bright, glittery projectiles, moving at a speed that would make a Mega-Blaziken dizzy. The Fairy-type move was too much for Omen to handle, and he collapsed into a battered pile of dark feathers.

"Um…ok, Mirror, let's go!" I said stunned as I sent out my Kecleon.

"SLURPUFF, USE DAZZLING GLEAM AGAIN, SHOW HIM YOUR GODLIKE ABILITIES!" Kyle shouted, and once again, Slurpuff completely destroyed my pokemon. In one hit.

Immediately after we both recalled our pokemon, Fox and Ink stepped up and sent out their pokemon. Greed and Kirlia were ready for a fight, but Fox giggled and said, "Say there, stud. How about we make this interesting, how does a double battle sound to you? If you win, I'll give you a kiss, and If I-"

"Shut up and send your second pokemon out, whore." Ink said. His patience had finally dissipated, and all that was left was Ink, wanting to be a hero. As usual.

Fox's eyes narrowed and her porcelain smile and wide blue eyes turned into a snarl. "If that's the way you want to play, then I guess I won't go easy on you." They sent out their second pokemon, and all the rest of us took a step back. It was obvious this battle was going to be explosive.

"Ok, Greed, use Thief on Kirlia. Jagged, you use Quick Attack and get behind Greed as soon as possible!" Ink said, and his pokemon followed his orders precisely. Greed dashed forward and swiped at Kirlia with his claws before she could react. The blow seemed to startle the Psychic-Fairy, and Greed used her shock as an opportunity to jump out of the way, giving Jagged enough time to dash in and deliver a quick spin-kick to Kirlia's head. In case of any sort of retaliation from the Psychic type, Jagged retreated behind Greed. Kirlia was being battered badly, but Ink's pokemon were too focused on her to notice Fox's other pokemon, Mienfoo. Not just Mienfoo, but a shiny Mienfoo. Its blue and gray fur became a blur as it rushed to Jagged, preparing to deliver a devastating Force Palm, but before it had a chance to connect. Greed turned its expressionless head just in time to see the attack coming, and the creepy creature intercepted and took the hit for Jagged…meaning taking no damage. One of the upsides to being a Ghost-type I suppose. At this point I realized Ink and Fox were actually speaking, but instead of shouting their orders, they just spoke them calmly and respectfully. I guess I was just too caught up in the battle to notice. Honestly, who could blame me?

From his position behind Greed, Jagged used Quick Attack on Mienfoo, then an almost unbelievably powerful Karate Chop. Mienfoo fainted, just like that, reminding me just how powerful Jagged actually was. Not just that, but Ink, too. He was a great trainer, making the leader of these master strategists have to play extra carefully, because she knows he's a worthy opponent.

Kirlia had gotten up and used a very powerful Psyshock on Jagged, making it collapse in a shaking mess. Ink recalled his Mankey, and it was one-on-one now. Kirlia shot Magical Leaf after Magical Leaf at Greed, but he was never fazed in the slightest. Thief, Pursuit, Thief, Pursuit, over and over. Somehow this tiny, hideous bogeyman of a thing was faster than the mystic projectiles were, and he dodged nearly all of them with ease. Then, finally, Kirlia collapsed, defeated.

"Well done, kid. If you ever think about leaving your little girlfriend, give me a call, I could use a man like you around." Fox said, walking over to Ink and slipping a piece of paper with her phone number on it into his back pocket. He seemed to be uncomfortable, but not uncomfortable enough to stop it, I suppose.

After we had separated from them, and Chloe had FINALLY ended her rant about how much of a complete whore Fox was, we were almost to the next town, the one between us and the first gym. Then, Ink stopped walking. We looked back at him, and his eyes were shut and he was shaking. Then, he coughed up a torrent of blood, and fainted.

**(Boy, oh boy, a cliffhanger. It sure is a good thing I pumped out this chapter immediately after the last one, or else you guys would've stopped caring. Oh well, no one reads this anyways. See you next chapter, you big dummies.)**

**Repost - (Over a year later and Slurpuff is still my favorite Pokemon. ALL HAIL SLURPUFF. SLURPUFF IS LOVE, SLURPUFF IS LIFE.)**

_**Tune in next time to find out what is ailing our poor Ink. Will he be okay? Or will this surprise illness tear the group apart? Find out next chapter, in "Dante". Thanks for reading.**_


	4. Chapter 4

**(I don't own pokemon. I'm not even sure if I actually have to put this here. Is anyone worried about someone thinking '**_**boy oh boy, this FearofFears fella sure is creative! He created this whole world and these "pokemon" creatures.' **_**Ya, no. That person would be a big dummy. And not the good kind, like you guys.)**

Chapter 4

Dante

"So, Doctor. Um, what's wrong with him?" Chloe asked nervously rocking from heel to toe. She wiped a tear from her eye and cleared her throat, obviously torn up about Ink.

"Well, we can't tell yet, but I'm sure it's nothing serious. You two should get some rest, there's an Inn across the street. We'll have the diagnosis by tomorrow, so just stop by when you can. Just, take it easy." The doctor said reassuringly. I looked over at Chloe, and she didn't seem any less worried. Well, I can't say she didn't have reason.

Let me backpedal a bit. After Ink fainted in the forest, we rushed him to the hospital in Tarall Town, the next town over. The doctors ran a few tests, and that's really it. Chloe was nervous that whole time, her eyes were wide and red, and she was pale, like, deathly pale.

We could only afford a one-bedroom room at the Inn, so I slept on the couch. I couldn't stop thinking about Ink, but not about what you might think. I was angry at him. I know, I know, it's selfish, but I couldn't help it. I was really, genuinely mad. I hated that this might be the end of our journey. If he was sick, like, _really_ sick, there was no doubt Chloe and him would go back home, and without them I would be completely lost.

My train of thought was interrupted by a muffled cry coming from the bedroom. It sounded like a sob, but I didn't want to take any chances. Maybe Ink's..._situation_ was contagious, so I ran to the door and opened it.

"I'M FINE!" She screamed immediately, then she threw a pillow at the door, but I shut it just in time. In that moment, I was done. I'd find someone else, a new partner. I didn't need them bringing me down.

So I left.

**~The next morning, in the forest between Tarall Town and the first Gym in Mysticia City~**

It was cold, but I didn't care, all I had to do was keep going. The first Gym couldn't be that far away. Just. Keep. Going.

But it was so cold.

So, so cold. That was all I could think about. I started fantasizing about having a Fire-type pokemon. For a split second, I was even angry at my pokemon for not being Fire-types, but I snapped out of it. I couldn't start thinking like that. I just couldn't.

"Hey, kid! Have you been out all night? Its dawn and it looks like you haven't gotten a wink of sleep. Come inside." I heard a voice say in the fog. I walked towards it, revealing a house with warm lights radiating from it. I went inside, and that's the last thing I remember. Well, not exactly. I had a dream.

_I was in the forest again, fog surrounding me. I heard voices, many more than one. All of them murmuring. I thought I heard them say my name, so I looked around. All of a sudden, there were shapes. All around me. They were shadowy figures. People, maybe, but something was definitely wrong. Then, I saw Chloe, she was crying. No, she was screaming. Her mouth was moving but she made no sound. Her eyes were red and wet, she had just finished crying. I didn't know why she was yelling, and then she pointed behind me. I turned and saw a gravestone. It said "Here Lies Ink. Why weren't you there, Carbon?" The letters were scratched in crudely, as if by a child. I screamed, but my voice made no sound. Something tapped my shoulder, and I jolted and spun around, and I saw Ink. It wasn't just Ink, there was something about him. He felt dead. He just…felt gone. He didn't look any different, but it wasn't him. He was still. Unnervingly still. Then, a coffin rose out of the ground behind him. He stepped back into it, and the door shut. I tried to pry it open, but I couldn't. I just couldn't. I looked behind me, I just felt something there. It was a child. A young girl. I had seen her before somewhere. Perhaps in another dream. A sense of dread filled me when I saw her empty eyes. So empty, so cold. Not even human. Her eyes held nothing, but her face showed cruel, unnatural emotion. She was smiling. Smiling and laughing. Mocking me. I don't know why, but it hurt. It hurt me so much. I wanted to run away. So I tried. But, where the coffin was, there was now a mirror. But it wasn't me. It was my mom. Staring back at me. Just, sitting there. Empty. Just like the girl. Like Ink. Like me._

I woke up screaming, drenched in sweat, my eyes swollen and wet with tears. There was a boy, around 15, two years older than me, next to me in a rocking chair. I wasn't sure if he was even real, because he remained so still and calm, as if oblivious to me kicking and screaming. He was just sitting there patiently, waiting for me to stop. It took a while, but I eventually did. He stood up, nodded at the door, then left.

"Um, hey. Are you the guy who brought me in here last night?" I asked, following him into what appeared to be the kitchen.

"Nah, that was Zoroark. He was sleeping outside, and he saw you coming. I guess he imitated my dad and brought you in, or at least that's what I understand." He said back. I saw from a picture frame on the counter that his name was Dante.

"So, uh, Dante," I waited to see if there was a reaction, but there was none, "Why was Zoroark sleeping outside?" Dante gestured at the wall behind me. It had a giant, menacing slash in it. Tearing right through the wallpaper. "Ohhhh." I said. "What other pokemon do you guys have? Zoroark is pretty powerful, how'd you get one of those?"

"Dad's a breeder, "Dante responded plainly, "He has plenty of pokemon, and sometime she gets shipments from my mom, down in Vilerus City. She's the Gym Leader there." I nearly choked.

"Your mom is Tabitha? Tabitha Alighieri? The Poison-type Gym Leader? Wow, she's really strong; she's the sixth, right?" I asked, amazed, and humbled by this information.

"Yes, sixth," I heard a voice come from behind me say. It was familiar, and I realized it was the man that had let me in last night. I knew it was him, because I could see a Zoroark sleeping in the room the man emerged from.

I stuttered for a bit then said, "Hello, Mr. Alighieri, um, I was-"

He cut me off. "Yes, I know Zoroark dragged you in here. I have a question for you though, how do you know my wife's name? She goes by her stage alias most of the time, 'Venom'. Not many people know her true name."

"Well, you see, my dad is…um, was Ace Dynasty. He worked with your wife in the league." I said, seeing his inquisitive face turn into one of sympathy.

"I'm sorry for your loss, boy." He said. I guess the news had even reached people here. I didn't know League families were so close. Mr. Alighieri stared at me a little longer, and then continued, looking at Dante, "Son, why don't you lead this boy over to Mysticia City, maybe both of you can get badges."

"But, Dad," Dante said, his voice showing reluctance, "I only just met the guy, and-"

Mr. Alighieri cut him off, too, saying, "That doesn't matter, I knew his father, and I trust this boy will make a fine companion for you. You know we don't like you venturing off alone, and with the rest of the family gone, I can't just abandon the Day Care. Now's your chance, and if you get the badge, I'll let you go try out for the rest of them, even if Carbon doesn't go with you."

"Ok, Dad, fine. I'll get my stuff." Dante said, not looking too thrilled, but definitely not appearing unhappy.

"Wait, one last thing, Mr. Alighieri, how'd you know my name?" I asked. He responded with a wink. And with that, we were off.

**~One hour later, at a café~**

"Ok, so, you go first, I'll go second. You have that Murkrow, so it shouldn't take you that long. I'll need a bit of time to prepare my Snubbull and Cubone." Dante said, getting excited about facing the gym leader. He had just explained his tactics to me, and they were pretty solid. I'm no Fox or Ink, but I thought of myself as a pretty solid strategist, and his plans had almost no weak points. It was my plan of attack that worried me. I still had pretty new pokemon, and I didn't really know how to use them with any sort of strategy yet. He kept trying to reassure me, but I was still pretty nervous.

"Carbon?" I heard someone behind me say. I was hoping, praying to all forms of Arceus that it wasn't her. But it was. Fox, in all her red haired, blue eyed, succubus-like glory. Well, that was a bit extreme, but she was still there, but her goons, if evil masterminds count as goons, were nowhere in sight.

"Hey, Fox. Um…how're you?" I asked awkwardly.

"Cut the crap, C, we're not that close." She said, pulling up a chair to our table, uninvited. "Where are beauty and the beast? Ink is the beauty, if you didn't get that."

"I, uh, I got it. They're not here, Ink has, like, a medical condition, so they went back home." I said trying not to stare. Ok, that sounded bad. I meant her eyes. They were piercing, but beautiful. It was hard not to look, but it was harder to lock eyes.

"Oh, well. Tell him I hope he feels better. Oh, yeah, and tell him to call me." She said, and then walked away.

"Well, I doubt that could've been more awkward. You wanna challenge the Gym today or tomorrow?" Dante asked, getting up from the table.

I thought about it for a bit, and then said, "Tomorrow, I'm not really feeling it today. Hey, shouldn't we pay? Um…I know this is rude of me, but, um…"

"It's fine," Dante said, whipping out a stuffed wallet, "I got it covered."

"Whoa, what'd you do, rob a bank?" I asked, astounded.

"Haha, no, Dad gets checks from Mom because of her Gym money. If a Gym leader is retired, or…um, yeah, the kids don't inherit it until they're eighteen." Dante said, trying his best not to say something offensive. It didn't really work, but it's the thought that counts.

**~That night, in the famous Mysticia Inn~**

It was a very nice room. A kitchen, two bedrooms, and an okay view of the forest, but nothing special. Dante said he didn't like wasting money. This Inn was a lot cheaper than the last one, and I might've even been able to get a two bedroom if I was still with Chloe and Ink. Then, just like that I heard them. It was definitely them, but I could only hear part of their conversation, since they were out in the hallway, and I was in the room, but I made this out:

"Ink, what are we gonna do if we don't find him. Actually, what are we gonna do if we _do_ find him." Chloe asked, in a hushed voice, but just loud enough to hear.

"Just forgive and forget. I don't blame him for leaving. If we get mad at him, he'll just ask questions." Ink responded after a long pause.

I heard Chloe gasp, then say, "Wait, are you saying we're not gonna tell him? That's crazy! This is a big deal, you can't just-"

"I _can_ and I _will_. He doesn't have to know. Just, let it go and be happy we could afford this room." Ink snapped.

"You cannot just brush this off!" Chloe said, obviously losing her temper, "Ink, you're not just sick. You could _die_."

**(Another cliffhanger, oh snap. I'm glad I got this chapter out right after the last, and I'll really try to do that more often. If you liked or have some constructive criticism, leave a review, they're much appreciated. You big dummies won't have to wait long for the next chapter, it's on its way, and with it, the first Gym. See you guys next time.)**

_**Tune in next time to witness the new dynamic duo face all the challenges of the first gym, run by Mystique, a Psychic type master! Will Carbon be able to face a gym so soon after his journey has begun? And what will happen with Ink and Chloe? Find out next chapter, in "Riddle Me This". Thanks for reading.**_


	5. Chapter 5

**(I don't own pokemon or anything affiliated with the series. I only own the characters displayed in this story, but not the creatures. The human characters are not modeled after anyone in real life, so consider any kind of similarities to real life people a coincidence. Yeah, I'm not even gonna say anything witty in this one.)**

Chapter 5

Riddle Me This

"Ok, Dante, let's get going, I think we should get an early start." I said nervously, trying to hide what I had heard last night. I knew bumping into my friends along the way was inevitable, but I wanted to make sure it didn't happen soon. I hated conflict, and the longer we were separated, the more the tension from me leaving would die down. That's just how they are.

"Ugh, fine, Carbon. For Mew's sake, I hope this isn't a regular thing with you." He said, rolling his eyes, and getting his bag reluctantly.

"It won't be. Wait, are you Mewish? I mean, that's not a bad thing, but...um. Well, it's just that there weren't many of you guys where I used to live." I stuttered out, being just about as awkward as someone can be. I looked over at him, trying to see if I had insulted him. The only reaction I got was a skeptical cocked eyebrow.

"Let's leave." He said. He wasn't being hostile, but it still kinda hurt.

**~Around noon, outside of the Mysticia City Gym~**

This Gym was a lot different from my dad's. My dad's was humble, but I thought it always looked elegant. It had an open roof and the floor was made of spotless glass, giving the illusion of flight, but it wasn't at all gimmicky. Gimmicky was the perfect word for this gym. It looked like a circus, a giant purple tent with a giant magic-orb-thing on the top, holding the Pokemon League logo.

There was a man outside of the Gym editing the digital winner's panel. Dante and I were walking over to him, trying to get a closer look, when we heard an obnoxious voice from behind us say, "He's adding _my_ name. Zero. Zero Hantero. Now, why don't you _kids_ run along, only people on _my_ level can beat this gym." We turned and say a russet-haired kid with his nose in the air, obviously feeling like he was way above us _commoners_. It was weird that he put so much emphasis into calling us "kids" when he looked about my age, 13, and Dante was 15.

"Excuse us, my liege," Dante said, giving an exaggerated bow, "Obviously us _mortals_ should be in awe of such a skilled trainer as you. It must've taken so much skill to defeat a Psychic-type Gym with two Dark-types. We apologize for insulting you by being in your presence." With that, Dante grabbed my wrist and dragged me in the Gym, leaving the kid, Zero, before he could do anything.

"Haha, nice one, Dante." I said, patting him on the back.

"Hey, I wasn't just gonna stand there and let that guy be a dick." He said nonchalantly. We looked around the Gym in amazement. Just like the outside, the inside was made to look like a circus. There were rows and rows of seats, many of them filled with spectators watching the battles. In the middle there was a wide open circular space, filled with trainers battling.

All of the sudden, a man in a white suit with dark sunglasses and an absurdly bushy white mustache came in front of us. His voice was very excited, but for some reason it seemed genuine. The man took a deep breath, then said, "Welcome champs in the making! Since this is the first Gym in the official League ranking, I'll fill you guys in on how things work. Each Gym has a specific typing, but you probably knew that. All Gyms also have different specifications, like finding your way through a maze to get to the gym leader, or going through a series of elevators. This Gym's specialty is Psychic, so keep your Fighting and Poison-types away, but you'll be safe if you have Dark, Bug, or Ghost-types. In this Gym, you will be approached by two trainers. They will tell you a riddle, and if you answer correctly, you will battle one of them, but if you answer incorrectly, you must face both of them simultaneously. You go through that thrice, that's three whole battles, but you may heal in between, as long as you do not leave the gym. Every trainer in this gym has two pokemon each, so try your best to pick the right answer. Do you need any more information?"

"No." Dante said immediately. He was obviously getting impatient, and I could understand why, the guy had been blabbering on for quite a while, and I wanted to get out of here as soon as possible to avoid any encounters with Chloe and Ink.

"Well, okay then," the man said, "Now, let me see your pokemon to make sure they are up to League standards for this Gym." We released all of our pokemon and he whipped out a little scanning device, looking over our pokemon. "It all looks good, but I'll tell ya, that Cubone is cutting it close. If it were any stronger I'd have to disqualify it. Good luck kids, and feel free to take turns, you won't learn any answers. All of the riddles here are used only once."

We headed down the stairs into the intimidating arena. On the other side from the entrance, I saw a kid walk up some stairs into a room hidden by red curtains, different from the purple of the rest of the Gym. I pointed to it, "That must be where the Gym Leader is." I looked over at Dante and saw the nervous expression on his face, much different from his usual calm attitude. "Hey, I'll go first, then you face your guy, and I'll go again, and, well, you get it." He just nodded. Dante sat in the first row while I was approached by two trainers, both wearing weird fortune teller costumes. They nodded at each other, then said:

"Imagine you are lost in the ocean."

"You are in a boat."

"You are struck by a large storm."

"Your boat crashes."

"You are lost, swimming around blindly in the water."

"You feel something brush up against your foot."

"Then you see a monstrous beast rise up out of the water, fangs bared."

"What do you do to survive?"

They both looked at me patiently, waiting for my answer. I rack my brain for possible solutions, then, without even a sliver of confidence, say, "Umm, you, like, see if lightning strikes it, since it's like, a storm, and...umm...I have no idea."

They both shake their heads in disappointment, taking pokeballs out of their robes. One of them then says, "The correct answer is, _stop imagining_." They release a Chingling and a Spoink from their pokeballs and laugh.

"Wait, what?" I ask, releasing Mirror and Omen onto the battlefield.

"We said _imagine_ you are lost in the ocean, now, Spoink, use Psywave on the Kecleon!" One of the trainers said, still cackling. Mirror dodged the pulse of magenta energy radiating from Spoink's pearl.

"Omen, use Pursuit on Kecleon!" I commanded, knowing Kecleon could take the hit. Omen dashed to him, enveloped in dark energy, colliding roughly, but not roughly enough to make Mirror budge. Mirror's green color was replaced by a deep black, making him look menacing when combined with the blood red stripe zigzagging across his stomach.

"Mirror, use Dizzy Punch on Chingling, and hurry, it can still use non-Psychic moves!" I said, and Mirror did what exactly that, and he did it quick too. He wasn't as fast as Omen, not even close, but he wasn't really a symbol of speed. Mirror's attack smacked Chingling right in the eye, sending it spinning.

"My little Spoink only knows Psychic-type moves, but I have a pokemon perfect for this situation. Spoink, come back!" One of them shouted.

"Omen, hurry use Pursuit!" I said, trying to react as fast as possible. Before Spoink could be recalled, Omen dashed over to him completely destroying him, leaving the spring-pig lying on the ground unconscious.

"What? How did it do that much damage?" The fortune teller asked, astounded.

"Super Luck. Gotta love it." I responded with a laugh, remembering my battle with Kyle. It didn't see, so funny then, but those guys really taught me something.

"Fine, how about this, go Wynaut!" The same fortune teller said, getting aggravated. I swear I saw the other one smirk.

"Omen, go! Use Pursuit on Chingling!" I said. Murkrow dashed once again, hitting Chingling, but not doing nearly as much as I thought it would. "Omen, what the hell?" I asked.

"You fool! While you were distracted, I was using Growl this whole time!" Chingling's trainer said. There was an awkward pause.

"Really?" I asked, "_That_ is your strategy?" He started to look embarrassed, and I thought it was funny so I continued, "And if you've been using Growl this _whole_ time, why did I still defeat Spoink so easily?"

He stood there awkwardly, and said, "Um, well, Chingling was confused, so…nevermind, Chingling, use Growl!" The Chingling hurt itself in its confusion...and fainted. "Not. A. Word." He said, recalling it, and sending out Spoink.

"Haha," I said, then turning serious, I continued, "Mirror, use Astonish on Wynaut!" The Kecleon dashed over to Wynaut, his fist charged with a deep black energy, much like Omen's Pursuit. It smacked Wynaut across the face, obviously doing damage, but not fazing Wynaut at all.

"Wynaut! Here's your chance! Use Counter!" The fortune teller yelled, and immediately, with alarming speed, the Wynaut hit Mirror in the jaw before he could get away. My poor lizard went flying, changing from black to orange mid-air, then colliding with the floor so hard, I half-expected it to change into a Ground-type. I saw the Spoink charging up a Psybeam, and, without me instructing, Omen got in the way and blocked the shot. The bird didn't just do that, he also used Pursuit on the Spoink, following his type-advantage instincts, but with his lowered attack, it didn't do enough. Wynaut was walking slowly and menacingly towards Mirror (if I can even say that about a Wynaut) and the poor Kecleon was struggling to get up. All of a sudden, Spoink bounded over Omen's head, and shot Mirror square in the chest with a mid-air Psybeam, landing with ease.

Slowly, I recalled the chameleon pokemon, realizing that my odds of winning this battle were not nearly as good as I thought. Then, by some sort of miracle, Omen did something I had never seen him do before. He spread his wings wide, and started flapping furiously. A cold fog started forming around him, and I asked, yelling over the sound of the Murkrow's wings, "What _is_ this?"

"It's Haze! He's eliminating Growl's effects!" One of the fortune tellers said. I was happy, but I couldn't help thinking that if I had known about that move, this match would've been over much sooner. Mirror wouldn't have had to go through that.

"Ok, Omen, now-" Before I could finish my sentence, the bird went into a rage. One Pursuit after another, doing it so fast that the dark energy never left his body in between attacks. After what had to have been no more than 3 seconds, he flew back, looking away while the bodies of his opponents collapsed, like someone in an action movie. "Wow, Omen, you're...wow!" That's all I could say. That's all I needed to say. The bird gave me a smile and perched pleasantly on my head.

I switched places with Dante, healing my pokemon. I started thinking about the possibilities of Omen's newly discovered strength. 'Maybe he could even beat Rebel!' I thought to myslef, 'No, no, Rebel has Rock Tomb, but he might be able to beat Jagged if I train him more. What am I talking about, Jagged it way too strong, even if I do have the type advantage.' While I was thinking I must've missed Dante's riddle, but I guess he got it right because he was only facing one trainer.

"Snubbull, Bite one more time, and that should be the end of his Spoink!" He said, not showing the same nervousness he had shown me when we were talking before. The man recalled his Spoink, and sent out, of course, another Spoink.

"For the love of Arceus, how many Spoinks are in this damn Gym?" I muttered to myself.

"Too many, that's for sure." Ink's voice said from behind me. I was so startled I nearly fell out of my seat. "Hey, calm down Carbon, haha. Look, I don't blame you for running off, the spirit of adventure and all that jazz, but next time, give us a little warning." He smiled, not showing any sign of having a potentially fatal illness, but Chloe was obviously more nervous. He was sure rushing this introduction, so I didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable by asking about his health, not even to avoid suspicion. I just nodded, and looked back to the battle. Well, looking back to Dante walking away from an unconscious Spoink, that is.

"Hey, Dante Alighieri," He said, holding out his hand, "Are you guys friends of Carbon?"

"Yup, I'm Ink and this is Chloe." He said, warmly reaching out to shake hands with his, well, to be honest, replacement. I left to start my next battle while they caught up. It felt weird to be around them all.

Out of nowhere again, two fortune tellers appeared and presented their riddle:

"You are faced with two men, and two doors."

"The good man only tells the truth, and the evil man only tells lies."

"One door leads to glory, the other to death."

"You don't know which is which, for the men, or the doors."

"What can you ask the men to see which door to go through?"

And I thought the last riddle was weird. I thought, and thought, and thought. Then it hit me. "You ask them, 'which door do you want me to go through'. The evil man will lie and point at the good door, and the good man will point at it too." The fortune tellers looked surprised, they had obviously seen my last attempt at answering a riddle. One of them left, leaving me with a one-on-one, just how I liked it.

"I hope you know, kid, these battles get more difficult as you advance. Go, Munna!" The female fortune teller said, sending out the most awkward looking pokemon I had ever seen. Actually, never mind. Slurpuff still held the medal for that.

"And I hope _you_ know, I have no intention of losing to a floating piggy bank. Gettem, Omen!" I said sending out my bird. It came out soaring and ready for battle, still pumped after the last one. "Alright, use Pur- actually let's see if you can handle the battle without me giving you instruction, It's pretty simple, use pursuit over and over again, so let's go!" The Murkrow looked back at me and nodded, just like in its first battle against Mirror when we were trying to catch it. It dashed forward, once again covered in dark light. It smacked against the Munna, the impact blasting the Psychic-type to the ground. It used Psybeam...for some reason. It connected with Omen and it looked like the Murkrow gave a sarcastic cry of pain, then it used Pursuit again. I'm guessing Super Luck did its job again, because Munna was down after only two hits.

"Alright, fair enough. Let's see how you handle this! Drowzee!" The fortune teller said, sending out yet another painfully awkward pokemon. She smirk, then commanded, "Hypnosis." The anteater thing sent out several waves, but they were moving slowly that Omen dodged them with ease. Then, he went along with the plan and used Pursuit, but this time, something went wrong. The fortune teller smiled and pointed at Omen and laughed. Then, she said, "Disable, now!" Right before impact, the Drowzee held up his hand, and the dark energy around Omen disappeared making the impact look like no more than a Murkrow run into a Drowzee...then bounce off. "Pound, Go!" She said, and the Drowzee lifted its fist and smashed it down onto the poor Murkrow's body before it could get airborne again.

I got nervous. "Ok, forget what I said before use Wing-"

The fortune teller interrupted, "Headbutt." The Drowzee launched itself at Omen, colliding with force that didn't seem possible from such a dopey looking creature. Omen, my main weapon collapsed on the ground, and fainted. I recalled it, and sent out Mirror, my morale halved. "Headbutt again!" She said, sending the Hypnosis pokemon running head-first at my Kecleon. I was too defeated to say anything, so I put my head down. But then I heard a smack and a cry that definitely didn't belong to a Kecleon. I looked up and saw Mirror's hand extended as if he had just finished a bitch slap, and Drowzee lying on the ground, an impressive few feet away from the lizard. He looked at me, nodded just like Omen did, and he jumped into the air, hand raised, covered with dark energy indicating Astonish, and he smashed the Drowzee. Another victory for us.

I started walking back to where my friends were sitting, but Dante was gone. "Where is-" I started to say, but Chloe cut me off.

"While you were struggling with Drowzee, he advanced to the Gym leader. That kid's Snubbull is insane, he just took down four pokemon in a snap! And he never even got a riddle wrong! Oh look there he is." She pointed. It was true, Dante was emerging from the red curtains and heading over to us, but instead of looking excited, he just looked exhausted. He released his pokemon to be healed and they were battered. The same Snubbull that breezed through a battle in no more than four moves was now barely able to stand.

"...oh no." I said, my eyes wide and my heart starting to race. It was just starting to sink in how truly unprepared I was.

"Oh no is right, she...she totally mopped the floor with us." Dante said, putting on a fake smile. He was still in shock. I guess it really was that bad. He sighed, sat down on the other side of Chloe and said, "You better get going on that next match. Losing your momentum could be the difference between winning and...well...this." He gestured towards himself. I felt bad, but he was right. I had to get going.

This was it. The final pair of fortune tellers, dressed in even more embarrassingly elaborate costumes than before. One of them, the girl, stepped forward and announced in a failed-theatre-major stage voice, "Welcome, traveler! This is your final challenge before you face the mighty Mystique! We shall ask you a riddle, and-"

"Yeah I know how this all works, get on with it." I said, interrupting her speech. She looked agitated, but I saw her exasperated partner mouth the words '_thank you_'.

"Fine, then. Alejandro, tell this fool our riddle." She said, crossing her arms with an exaggerated _harrumph_.

"Yeah, yeah, you got it babe." The young man, Alejandro muttered as he stepped forward. "Although brothers and sisters, I have none, a certain man's father is my father's son. Who is the man?" My eyes widened and my head spun. Even though this guy obviously wasn't into the whole showmanship part of working for a gym, he sure did select a good riddle.

I steadied myself. I had to be calm. All my friends were watching. I had to prove that I was strong, like them. Like my dad. I thought about it, then it hit me like one of Lady's Comet Punches. "The man is your son." I said, not showing them what an epiphany it really was.

Alejandro the fortune teller clapped his hands and said, "Well done, kid, I never doubted ya. Now let's batt-"

The girl fortune teller stepped forward, interrupting her partner. She was still all huffy, and she said, "No, no, no. No one disrespects Ex-Ace-Trainer-Current- Fortune-Teller Megan and gets away with it, let's go!"

We both sent out our Pokemon, Mirror versus a Gothita. The adorable little Fixation pokemon stared intently at Mirror, and there was silence. We both had rather reactive pokemon, and we were waiting for each other to make the first move. I realized that it was probably a boring show for my friends to watch, so I said, "Alright Mirror, go and use-"

I was cut off by Megan yelling "Fake Tears, now!" The little Gothita burst into (rather realistic looking) fake tears, and my Kecleon stepped back awkwardly, looking at me in confusion.

I cleared my throat and muttered, "Umm...ok. I wasn't really planning on using a special move there anyways, but nice try. Mirror, Dizzy Punch it." I was half expecting the chameleon to refuse and resist punching a tiny crying pokemon, but to my relief (and concern) there was not even a split second of hesitation. It dashed forward and punched the Psychic type at just the right angle to send it spinning. Its eyes boggled and it stumbled around, trying to figure out which way to go. I was about to tell Mirror our next plan of attack, but he was already on it. He used Shadow Sneak on the disoriented Gothita, surprising her and dealing even more massive damage. From this range he was able to pull of a swift Astonish, and the battle was over in a snap.

I looked up, expecting to see Megan in tears, or at least upset, but she wasn't. She was smiling. "Well, now that that's over with, Meditite, Clean him up!" She sent out a Meditite, and Mirror eagerly rushed into it with an immediate Shadow Sneak. It was super effective, but the Meditite didn't seem fazed at all. Its hand started to glow with powerful energy and it smacked my Kecleon right in the jaw with a Force Palm. Mirror changed from green to a rust color, but that didn't last long. Meditite used a super effective Confusion, changing the poor lizard's color once again, this time to a deep purple.

"If you're wondering why your Kecleon's damaging stats are so low, it's because of my precious Gothita. That's why she wasn't putting up a fight, she was using Play Nice on your little friend." Megan grinned and laughed maniacally, like a villain straight out of the Gligarman comics.

I was about to recall Mirror and send out Omen, but the lizard sensed this and shook his head at me. He wanted to stay it. It was the first time I realized that Mirror might be jealous of Omen being the stronger pokemon. He had something to prove, just like me. I nodded at him, and prepared for battle. Meditite charged at Mirror with another Force Palm ready, but Mirror ducked under it and used Shadow Sneak to get away. He was playing an evasion game. He looked at me and I nodded, then the second phase of his strategy began.

It appeared to be that Mirror's physical attack stat was lowered to its minimum, but his special attack had only been lowered a little, and the Meditite's focus on up-close combat gave Mirror ample time to reposition and blast his foe with a Psybeam. I thought to myself, _Mirror may not be as strong as Omen stats-wise, but damn, he is a strategist_. While I thought to myself about how great Mirror was, he finished off the battle. He turned and grinned at me, proud of himself. I ran over and picked the lizard up in my arms. We were going to be just fine in the gym battle. Just fine.

**(Man, I really liked writing this chapter the first time around, and I'm still thinking of even better riddles to use. Maybe I'll update it again in the future. Thanks for reading. Also, fun fact, that Drowzee couldn't have known any damaging Psychic type moves, so that's half of Omen's usefulness out the window. See you next time, you big dummies.)**

_**Tune in next time when our hero faces Mystique, the Psychic type gym leader! Will her mysterious fortune telling ways take Carbon down, or will his faith in his pokemon lead him to victory? Find out next chapter, in "Mystique". Thanks for reading.**_


	6. Chapter 6

**(I don't own pokemon or any products affiliated with it the franchise. Duh. Dummies.)**

Chapter 6

Mystique

This was the biggest moment of my life so far. Well, ok, maybe that's a bit of a stretch, but it seemed really, _really_ important at the time. This was my first gym battle, and I had to succeed. I knew I could just try again, but in order to convince myself that I could actually complete this whole journey, I had to win on the first try. I had to prove it to myself "Alright," I whispered under my breath before walking behind the red curtain that housed my strongest opponent yet, "Let's do this."

I was completely unprepared for what I found on the other side. It was...nothing. An empty room with a cloaked woman sitting at a table in the middle. She was swirling her hands around a glowing orb in the center, but it wasn't as gimmicky as the rest of the gym. "Hello?" I called to her. "I'm guessing you're the Gym Leader. Umm...hello?" She waited before responding.

"Yes. It is I Mystique." The woman said, but I didn't see her move her lips. She was just staring intently at the orb, not blinking.

"Should I sit down?" I asked. I wasn't sure if this was actually a dumb question, because she wasn't giving me many other looked up at me, her eyes gray and cold. The table was lifted up into the curtains above us, but I couldn't spot any strings. Her chair flew back, screeching across the floor. White and purple lights shot out, illuminating the room, showing the stadium between us.

"Are you ready to begin? If you believe you are, I feel I must warn you, I am not like the others in this Gym. I am gifted in the Psychic arts. That's why I allow no one to spectate, they might try to hard to figure out my tricks." She said, taking out a pokeball.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm ready, bring it on." I said, taking out a pokeball of my own. "Go! Omen!" I said, releasing my crow onto the battlefield. "You have _got_ to be kidding me." I mumbled to myself when Mystique sent out yet _another_ Spoink. "Alright Omen! Pursuit!"

"Quick, use Reflect, Spoink!" Mystique said. Omen started dashing at the little piggy, his dark energy blazing around him, seemingly more powerful than ever. Before he could make contact however, the pig's orb started glowing, and a wall of psychic energy appeared in between them. Omen's attack connected, but the Spoink was easily able to shake it off.

"Ok then, how about this, use Haze!" I commanded. Omen's wings started flapping powerfully, conjuring the same mysterious mist as before. The fog was blasted at spoink, not damaging him, but shattering the magic barrier between them. "Now, let's see your Super Luck in action, Omen! Use Pursuit!" I shouted, the Murkrow flying towards the Spoink, my new most hated pokemon. Spoink was hurled back, flying through the air at the wall behind it, but just before it hit, Mystique recalled it.

"I see the way you play. Very well then. Chimecho, go! Reestablish our defenses with another Reflect!" She sent out the Wind Chime Pokemon and it conjured the same magic barrier.

I laughed, "Don't you ever learn? Omen, use-"

"Disable." She whispered. The mist disappeared, and Omen was left flapping his wings for no reason, looking like he was completely lost.

"Grr, I _hate_ that move! At least she didn't disable Pursuit, go Omen!" I said, shaking off the complication. Murkrow dashed into Chimecho, but with not as much force as last time. It was losing hope.

"Great," Mystique said, cackling like a witch, very fitting in retrospect, "Now that Murkrow is in close range, use Charge Beam!" The wind chime blasted a beam of electricity at Omen, hitting his wing and sending him plummeting to the ground. I was able to recall him just in time. He didn't faint, but he was definitely weakened.

"Alright, Mirror, Shadow Sneak!" I said, sending out my Kecleon. He melted into the ground, becoming a dark blotch. In his new shadow form, he dashed over to Chimecho, going above the surface right before impact and smashing into it. It didn't do much damage, but it was a hit. "Good job! now-" I didn't have time to finish my command. Mirror was smashing Chimecho with a barrage of moves, none with my commands.

Mystique Chuckled and said, "You should really try to control your pokemon. Chimecho, Confusion." The Psychic-type sent out waves, much like the Hypnosis move, but these were moving faster. I didn't know how much damage they'd do, because on one hand, Confusion is a pretty weak move, but on the other hand, it got stronger because of Charge Beam. Luckily enough for me, Mirror was able to dodge them by sinking into the dark and using Shadow Sneak again. He just used all of his moves, Shadow Sneak, Astonish, Dizzy Punch, even letting loose the occasional Psybeam. None of these did much. With no STAB on the super-effective moves, and Reflect still up, Mirror couldn't get much damage through. Then I noticed a pattern.

Mirror would Shadow Sneak into a battle, use a few Dizzy Punches and Astonishes, then he'd jump out, onto the other side of the battlefield. He'd run around, dodging moves and sometimes shooting a Psybeam or two, but the whole time he was flicking his tail. I had never seen him flick his tail before and it looked like a metronome. Like he was keeping time or…"_He's timing it!_" I thought to myself, "_Mirror is keeping track of the Reflect!_"

"Mirror, good plan! Keep going with it! We got this." I shouted, holding out a thumbs up.

"What? What plan?" Mystique said, aggravated. "You haven't said anything about a plan to this pokemon!"

"Haha, you know, I expected more from a damn psychic! Why don't you try to read my mind?" I said, taunting, trying to keep her from noticing Mirror flick his tail. Then, the magic barrier shattered. The Reflect was down.

"Chimecho, use Ref-" Mystique started saying, but it was already too late. Kecleon had run up right into Chimecho's face and smacked it with an Astonish. While it was trying to shake that off, he landed a Dizzy Punch, making sure it wasn't going to be able to put up another wall. Then, finally he finished it off with a Shadow Sneak. The deed was done.

As Mirror was walking back towards me, I noticed that he was still green, meaning Chimecho had not hit him with a move that _entire_ time. I laughed, but my laugh faded when I saw the look on Mystique's face. She was smiling. Like, a completely insane smile. Then she said, "Go, Espeon!" She sent out her purple-cat thing, then continued by simply saying, "You know what to do." The Espeon nodded and looked straight at Mirror, her eyes glowing blue and the gem on her head glowing red. Mirror looked back at me, as if to ask what that was. I shrugged and gestured to Espeon, signaling that Kecleon could go get her. I think at this point we weren't directly communicating just to mess with Mystique.

Mirror used Shadow Sneak but Espeon leaped high into the air before he could hit her. as she landed, she just purred and licked her paw. Mirror was getting agitated. He rushed over at her, trying to land something, anything at all, but he was exhausted from dashing around so much in the last battle. He wasn't able to land anything, but Espeon didn't attack either. It just patiently waited for him, taunting him. Finally, Mirror got right in front of Espeon, ready to use Astonish, but something happened. He froze, his green skin changing to a deep purple. He collapsed, writhing, but unconscious.

"What the hell was that?!" I asked, recalling Mirror to his pokeball.

As I sent out Omen, she cackled again and said, "Remember that little lightshow Espeon put on went I sent her out? That's something I like to call Future Sight. Now let's go, use Reflect!"

"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE-" I started saying, then I decided not to let her get the best of me, "Fine, fine, use Haze!" Omen started flapping his wings, creating fog, but this time, he couldn't finish the move.

"Now, while it can't move, use Dazzling Gleam!" Mystique shouted. Gleaming projectiles shot out of its red gem at Omen, forcing him to get out of the way. "Now, use Charm!" a heart shot out at Omen bursting in a pink dusty blast. The battle went along like that, Espeon kept lowering Omen's attack, and whenever he got close enough to use Pursuit or stopped to use Haze, she'd blast him with a Dazzling Gleam.

It was not looking very good and I was running out of ideas, so I looked at Omen and asked, "You have any ideas buddy? Maybe a new move or something, like in the first battle?" To my surprise Omen nodded. He flew up into the air, then cawing loudly, his eyes started glowing red. All of a sudden, an Umbreon appeared in front of Espeon. It looked real, but I somehow knew it was just an illusion. I guess the Espeon didn't because she started inching closer and closer to the Umbreon, and when she got close enough, it morphed into a Zoroark, its fangs bared and it's claw raised. It slashed down onto the Espeon, sending it flying. Then, it disappeared.

We both stood, stunned. The Zoroark couldn't have been real, it had to have been some kind of projection or hallucination or….

"Congratulations," Mystique said, walking from her orb and handing over a badge that looked like a gleaming purple eye, "Here is the Fortune Badge, but I must ask, what was the move you beat me with? The move that got past all of my defenses?"

I took the badge, looked over at Omen, and laughed. "Night Shade."

**(This was by far the hardest chapter to rewrite because it was such absolute shit the first time around. I hope you guys liked it, because this is the last chapter of rewrites, all the rest will be new. Thanks for reading you big dummies.)**

_**Tune in next time to see Carbon discover a surprised secret about one of his closest friends and battle an old foe. Will he be deterred by this disturbing realization, or will friendship keep the bonds of our group strong? Find out next chapter in, "Truth or Dare?". Thanks for reading.**_


	7. Chapter 7

**(Like the first chapter, this one relies a lot more on emotion and character development. I threw in some combat at the end, but there is a lot of talking in this chapter. I like these ones, and I hope you guys do too. Let me know what you think.)**

Chapter 8

Truth or Dare?

As I walked down from the red curtains, I tried to keep calm. I was buzzing with nerves, and the massive smile on my face must've tipped Chloe off because when she saw me, she gave me a wide-eyed grin. She ran up to me and tackled me with a hug.

"Great job! Great Job! That was quick! I can't believe you don't even look tired or anything." She blabbered then gestured over towards an exhausted Dante, "_he_ barely made it out! Apparently his Cubone put in some major work and got him the badge though." I looked past her at where Ink was sitting, but he was nowhere to be found.

She noticed and turned away, shy. "Umm, Ink is...he's just hanging out with Fox for a bit. Only for a bit." My eyebrows furrowed and she started to backtrack, "I mean, we couldn't spectate your battle, so he just...um, yeah. He should be back soon, though. He, uh, he said he wasn't going to be gone for long." She had lost her usual bravado.

Dante sat up and said, "I've been giving her some pointers before she challenges the gym. You can walk around or something while we wait for Ink. They wanted to challenge it together. They're a cute-"

"We're not a couple." Chloe cut him off, her cheeks red, and jaw clenched. She was really upset. I started walking towards her to comfort her, but she turned away. "Ok, what else do I need to know?" she asked Dante, wiping her eyes. I took that as a hint to leave her alone, so I walked outside.

**~10 minutes later on the edge of Mysticia City~**

I had been wandering around aimlessly for a while, when I stumbled upon something I was not expecting to see. Ink and Fox...kissing.

I was walking towards the forest, wondering if I could catch a new pokemon, or at least train my current ones up some more, when I found them pressed up against each other like characters out of some weird book Chloe would read. I couldn't help but gasp loudly, and the sound startled them, forcing Ink to roll out of his rather inappropriate position.

Fox turned to me and glared, "Oh, it's just _you_." she said with contempt, turning to Ink and running her hand through his hair "Don't worry baby, it's not _her_. We can keep going."

I almost threw up in my mouth.

Ink stood up, looking embarrassed. He was looking for the right words, words that would clear all of this up and explain everything. Words that would make me forgive him. But all he said was "Please don't tell Chloe." Then he started walking back to the gym. I turned away from Fox and started walking back with him, at a loss for words.

I heard her call from behind us, "Call me sometime babe, you were _great_."

I threw up in the bushes.

**~Inside the Mysticia City Gym, waiting to be registered~**

Ink and I sat in the waiting area, waiting for all of their registration for the gym to be cleared up. I was thinking about what I could say to him that wouldn't make him hate me. Wait, why did I care what he thought? He was the one who did something wrong.

I turned to him and in a hushed voice, said, "Ink, why-"

"Shut up." He interrupted, clenching his fists with his head hung low. "It was...it wasn't even anything, just a hook up."

"Yeah, but what would-"

"Chloe say? I don't care. We're not even together, why should she care what I do.

"...Because she-"

"Just stay out of it, man. I don't need you breathing down my neck all the time. You're gonna distract me before the match."

I didn't feel like watching them go through the gym any more, so I left again.

**~Back in the woods~**

"Hey! Hey Carbon! Is Ink going through the gym yet?" Fox ran up to me from nowhere. Her clothes were nice and orderly again, as if nothing had happened.

"Yeah, he's in there now." I muttered passively, not making eye contact.

"Okay, thanks C." She said with the same bubbly, fake voice she always used. She started to skip (literally skip) away, then she turned back to me. "Carbon," her voice was lower this time, like an actual person, "why aren't you in there watching? Aren't you two like, best friends or something?" She plopped down next to me, her back against the rough bark of a tree, "What's wrong?"

I shook my head. "I don't really want to talk about it." I whispered.

There was a brief but noticeable pause, then Fox piped up and asked something I hadn't heard since elementary school. "Truth or dare?"

"What?"

"Truth or dare? Have you never played that? You pick-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know how to play. Truth I guess."

Fox thought about it, exaggeratedly scratching her head. Nothing she did ever seemed sincere, it was like she was always playing a character. "Hmm...have you ever kissed anyone?"

"Wow, what an original question."

"Oh shut up." She giggled, "C'mon, just answer it."

"Well yeah of course, I'm almost fourteen, of course I've kissed someone." I said huffily, crossing my arms, then uncrossing them for fear of seeming over-the-top. Fox had a way of forcing me to overthink everything.

"What was his name?"

"_Her_ name was Gray."

"Gray? What was she, a pornstar? I'm calling bullshit on that one."

"Whatever, truth or dare?"

"No, no, tell me more about this so-called Gray. What was she like?"

I rolled my eyes and stared up into the thick canopy of leaves above us, "Truth or dare."

I heard Fox sigh, "Fine. Dare."

"Why dare?"

"Because you picked truth."

"If I had picked dare, would you have picked truth?"

"Probably not. Just dare me."

I had to think about it. Whenever kids used to play this, they'd always dare each other weird stuff. All the kids in the school by the Leaders Resort were super snobby and whatever, they never invited me over. "Umm...I dare you to…"

"Oooo, suspense. I like it." She said teasingly.

I glared over at her. The light from the sun rained down in broken rays, reaching desperately through the leaves above. Those same rays bounced perfectly off of her pale skin, and...wait, what? No, I couldn't start thinking like that. I had to clear my head. I couldn't let her get to me. "I dare you to cover yourself up for once." I said harshly. I didn't mean to seem so mean, but it was more for my sake than hers.

She seemed surprised, and just a tad hurt. She started buttoning up the top few buttons of her shirt, and she pulled a jacket out of her purse. She put back on her plastic smile and giggled, "I left those buttons open for a reason you know."

"Yeah, I don't doubt it."  
>"Oh, hush, truth or dare."<p>

"Truth."

"You're so boring."

"Fine, dare."

"No, you're not allowed to just change it like that."

"Then why'd you complain?"

"I wasn't complaining. I was just letting you know that you're boring. Ok, tell me more about this mythical Gray girl you supposedly kissed." Fox picked herself up and positioned herself in front of me.

"What do you want to know?" I looked away into the trees.

"I don't know, anything. Where did you meet her?"

"She was a retired Gym Leader's daughter. She lived in the house across from mine in the Leaders Resort."

"Show me a pic."

"What? No. And don't say pic in real life. Just say picture."

"Pics or it didn't happen." She was stubborn.

Annoyed, I took out my phone and pulled up a picture of me and Gray at school. She wasn't as pretty as I remembered.

"Ooo, she's pretty. She your girlfriend?"

"No. Truth or dare."

"Truth." Fox said. Surprised, I looked over at her, half-expecting her to take it back. She seemed like a dare kind of girl. She laughed at my expression and giggled, "Shocked you, didn't I? Believe it or not, I'm capable of picking truth."

"Who was your first kiss?"

"Copycat."

"Whatever, I'll ask something else."

"No, you can't change it. It was Ink."

There was a long pause and I looked at her. "Really? He was your _first_?"

The fake wide eyes and smile drained away, and she sat back, laying on the ground and looking up into the sky, "You wouldn't expect it. I know I act like...well, you know. Like a whore."

"No, you-"

"Don't bullshit me C, I know that's what you think. It's not your fault, it's mine for acting like this. I always get all of this unwanted attention from guys and girls, I hate it. It's not really who I am, it's all an act," She looked up at me, "but you could tell it was an act, couldn't you?"

I avoided her question, "If you get all that attention, why do you still act like this?"

"I don't know," I could hear her getting choked up, "My dad was...he wasn't a very good guy. Always drunk and angry. I hate him. He would...never mind."

I felt my heart sink a little. She wasn't anything like I expected her to be. I sat next to her and started running my fingers through her long, soft, red hair. I wasn't really thinking, just trying to calm her down. There was another pause.

"He kept calling me a whore. I didn't even do anything, he was just always so...angry. So I don't know, I sort of lived out his expectations. I fit into the part I was supposed to play." She wiped a tear from her eye.

"Well, for what it's worth," I said, getting up, "I think you're pretty great, even when you're buttoned up."

She smiled through her tears, and got up with me. "Thanks. That...that means a lot." She took a deep breath, and looked back up at the specks of blue that were visible through the branches. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

This time she was surprised, but she smiled and said, "Battle me."

Normally I would've said no. It was extremely one-sided, I had no chance of winning. But she needed a distraction right now.

* * *

><p>It was another double battle, and we each sent out our pokemon. Looking at the matchup again, I had a better chance of winning than I thought. Her Mienfoo could only do so much to defend itself against Omen's flying type attacks, and Omen could also use Pursuit on Kirlia. As long as Mirror stayed away from Mienfoo, he would be safe to use Psybeam on it, and Shadow Sneak in to finish off Kirlia. It was a solid battle strategy.<p>

The match started off with Mienfoo using Meditate. I had to shut that thing down before it got its attack high enough to take down Omen. Kecleon rushed at it with a Shadow Sneak, hitting it hard, but not hard enough. The Mienfoo, regained its balanced and struck a combative stance, giving it enough momentum to retaliate with a Force Palm. Mirror dodged and countered with a Dizzy Punch right between the fighting fox's eyes, confusing it. This was Omen's opportunity to dive in with a Pursuit, allowing Mirror to regain a safe distance from his Fighting type foe.

"You're getting better, C, but not quite better enough. Go!" Fox shouted, commanding her Pokemon to follow through with some unspoken plan. Kirlia dashed over to Omen and let out a cry. Omen, tried to dodge the move, but Kirlia's Disarming Voice does damage to the mind. He couldn't escape. _At least he was able to knock that Mienfoo out_, I thought to myself. Then, bafflingly, Mienfoo dashed to Omen with vigor that was impossible for a confused pokemon. He landed a devastating Force Palm, then cartwheeled out of the way as Kirlia finished off the poor Murkrow with one of its signature Magical Leaf attacks.

As I recalled Omen, I looked over at Fox, expecting an explanation. "Haha, you really don't get it? Well, that's understandable I guess, there was a chance it could've fallen apart completely. But I had faith in my Mienfoo, and it all paid off." I was still confused, and she sighed and said, "Mienfoo used Detect right before your Murkrow used Pursuit. While he wasn't damaged by it, the force of the impact knocked him out of his confused state. It's simple."

Now I understood why she was the leader of the three strategists. She understood risk versus reward perfectly. I focused back on the battle to see Mirror leaping and dodging and Shadow Sneaking his way out of all of Mienfoo's attacks. He was getting hit by some of Kirlia's projectiles, though, and it was clearly taking its toll. He kept glancing over at me with an unsure look, as if he was asking for permission. I couldn't think of anything he could do better, but it was obvious he had an idea. I thought about what Fox said about trusting her Mienfoo to pull it off, and I thought. Mirror had never let me down before. Sure he wasn't the sort of loose cannon Omen was, and he didn't have the raw power, but he was a thinker. A strategist, just like Fox. I decided to go with Mirror's zigzaggy gut, so I looked at him right in his beady, reptilian eye, and I nodded. _Go_, I mouthed, and he nodded back with a tiny smile.

The Kecleon immediately leapt into action. He was bright pink now, and indication of the Fairy type he had gotten from Kirlia's last Disarming Voice. He pretended like he was going to dodge Mienfoo's Force Palm, but instead, he took it. I winced, expecting my poor lizard to go flying, but nothing happened. There was no great impact like I expected. Then I realized what Mirror had known this whole time. Mienfoo wasn't trying to hit Mirror, he was the distraction. He was still too weak from fighting to deliver a finishing blow, so his Force Palms ironically didn't pack much force. They were decoys. Mirror's Fairy type helped soften the blow, but his scales once again changed color into a rusty orange. Mienfoo looked startled, and Mirror smacked him with a Dizzy Punch before using Shadow Sneak on Kirlia.

I almost shouted out for Mirror to get out of there. He was such a short distance from Kirlia, she didn't need to use Disarming Voice, she could use the more powerful Confusion. I saw psychic waves emit from Kirlia's forehead as she closed her eyes and focused her energy on my Kecleon. Mirror was brought to his knees by this super-effective blow, but he wasn't out yet. He was weak, but he was smiling for some reason; and as he shifted to a deep purple shade, I figured out why that was. That clever son of a bitch.

Mirror once again used Shadow Sneak, evading a second Confusion from Kirlia. His target this time was Mienfoo, and as the dizzy fox drew its fist back to hit Mirror, the Kecleon unleashed a close-range Psybeam, powered up by his new Psychic typing. The Mienfoo finally fainted, knocked unconscious by this well-planned blow.

After Fox recalled her Mienfoo, Mirror proceeded to beat the living shit out of the startled Kirlia with a barrage of Shadow Sneaks and Dizzy Punches, taking her down in what seemed like a few seconds.

"Damn, C. That's a strong Kecleon you've got there. You take good care of him." Fox said with a smile, shaking my hand with more sincerity than I had ever seen from her.

"Thanks Fox, you take care too. Man, I really wish you could come along with us, but I don't know, that might mess with the flow of things." I said, scratching my head.

"Wait, what? I thought I was going with you guys. Ink did ask me out while I was helping him train. I was under the impression that sort of included me, you know, sticking with you guys."

I was baffled. Why did Ink lie to me and say it was just a hook up? What was Chloe going to think about this? Was our group able to handle any more people we barely knew? I felt Fox's hand in mine, and she said to me, "Don't worry C, it'll all work out."

I smiled and we started walking back to the gym. She was right, everything was going to be fine.

That was when we heard the explosion.

**(Back in action. Thanks a ton for reading, I was having some scheduling problems. The next few should be out smoothly. Please review and tell me what you like, and more importantly, what I could do better. Thanks, you big dummies.)**

_**Tune in next time to see what the explosion was. Did anyone get hurt? Was it planned, or an accident? Will Fox joining the team cause any unwanted tension in the team? All of this and more next chapter, in "Rise of the Knights"! Thanks for reading.**_


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